Dark Justice (The Unbreakable Vow #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

A SHADOW FROM THE PAST

It was cool and sunny at David’s cabin, a beautiful, mid summer day. Joshua sat cross-legged on the grass, watching as his husband attempted a game of catch with Nate, David’s husband.

“Come on, Natey-baby!” Colin encouraged, trying to smother his smile. “Catch the damned thing!”

“Colin, I told you, I’m a crappy ballplayer! Why did you insist on doing this? You know I hate baseball!”

Colin bowed his head and snickered, then went into an elaborate windup. “Get ready, Nate! Here it comes! My two-hundred-mile-an-hour fastball!”

“Colin, no!” Nate screamed, throwing up his hands in terror, then he huffed in indignation as Colin bent and nudged the baseball into a slow roll across the grass.

“Some jock you are,” Colin muttered. He trotted forward and grabbed the ball as it edged towards Nate, then lobbed it into the air and watched as Nate ran around in blind circles, trying to catch the gentle toss.

Colin bent over laughing, then walked back to his improvised pitcher’s mound. “C’mon, Nate! I threw it so slow I could have caught it myself!”

David fell onto the grass next to Joshua and offered him a can of beer. “I see the baseball game is in full swing.”

“Yeah,” Joshua chuckled, taking the beer from David's hand. “And it’s a real nail-biter, I can tell you.” He turned back to watch his husband and drew in a deep breath.

Colin wore a pair of cutoff jeans and a skimpy tank top.

A baseball cap emblazoned with the logo for the Charlottesville Cougars, the baseball team that represented the University of Virginia Campus Police Force, was perched backward on his head.

He was sweaty, tousled, and breathless with laughter, and the sight of his muscular thighs, sculpted chest, and broad, powerful shoulders took Joshua’s breath away.

Colin was utterly gorgeous and more than a little tempting.

Joshua lowered his head, his sigh a husky rasp in his throat. “My god, you’d think after six years I’d be over it.”

David laughed out loud and sat up to sip his beer. “Thinking that your husband is a five-star hottie?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” David said with a shrug. “He is sort of flaunting it today.” He nudged Joshua’s shoulder and winked. “You think there’s a reason for that?”

“You think he’s trying to seduce me from twenty feet away?”

“I think he likes it that he can seduce you from twenty feet away,” David replied, grinning as he got to his feet and moved toward the cabin. “We need more beer.”

Joshua snickered, watching as Nate finally caught a gentle underhand throw from Colin. “I did it!” Nate crowed, waving the ball in the air. “I caught one!”

Colin flopped to the ground beside his husband and grabbed Joshua’s beer. He tilted it to his lips until the can was empty, then crushed it in his fist with a phony growl before blotting his sweaty forehead against Joshua’s T-shirt.

“Gee, thanks!” Joshua said, staring down at the now-damp spot.

Colin nudged him and grinned. “You love it, and you know it.” He hugged his knees, watching Nate as he tossed the baseball into the air and then ran in mad circles trying to catch it.

As Joshua turned to face him, Colin peered at him over a sweaty forearm and winked. Unable to resist, Joshua leaned forward and dragged his tongue across his husband’s damp shoulder. “Mm.”

“See?” Colin murmured, leaning closer. “Told you.”

“Conceited bastard,” Joshua muttered, then grinned as Colin burst into laughter.

“You’ve been calling me that for years, but you keep coming back for more. What’s up with that?”

“Can’t help lovin’ those tasty male pheromones,” Joshua teased, then nuzzled against Colin’s shoulder, once again caressing his skin with a damp tongue.

“Oh, stop licking him!” Nate burst out, flopping to the ground beside them. “And where did David go?”

“He went after more beer.”

Colin sprawled flat on his back, staring up at the blue sky. He drew in a deep breath, took several long seconds to blow it out, then closed his eyes. Joshua stretched out beside him, leaning on an elbow. He slid his hand up and down Colin’s muscular arm. “Babe? You OK?

“Just work frazzled.”

“How can I help?”

Colin’s eyes opened a slit. “Well, I have a couple of ideas in that regard. Care to hear them?”

“Would one of them be… wild, hot, out-of-control sex, maybe?”

“No ‘maybe’ about it.”

“Can I watch?” Nate queried with a grin.

“Got ten dollars?”

Joshua laughed and pressed his forehead against Colin’s bare arm. “In my opinion, any performance we gave would be worth a damned sight more than ten bucks!”

“I’m feeling generous.”

“Yeah? Well, to hell with that.” He turned to Nate and grinned. “No. You can’t watch.”

“Well, that’s just mean, Joshua,” Nate teased, then clambered to his feet. “I’m going after my husband.” He nudged Joshua’s leg with his toe. “You’re not the only one who wants sex!”

“Enjoy!” Colin called after him, then slid an arm around Joshua and dragged him over on top of his body, humming in blissful pleasure as Joshua’s lean, muscular physique molded itself against his own. “Sweet,” Colin whispered. “So sweet.”

“Are you teasing?” Joshua asked. “Or are you gonna give me the wild, hot, out-of-control sex you promised?” He grabbed the strap of Colin’s tank top and slid it down, replacing it with a wet mouth and eager tongue.

“You do love it when I work up a sweat, don’t you?” Colin chuckled.

Joshua responded with a low, growling moan as he kissed his husband’s throat and neck, losing himself in the sensual pleasure of Colin’s body.

Eyes closed, he writhed against him, loving the hard sinew beneath his fingers, the damp tang of sweat melting on his tongue, and the hardness of his husband’s arousal as it pulsed against his leg.

His fingers slid into Colin’s hair sending the Cougars baseball cap flying as his lips met Colin’s with a hunger so fierce it sucked the air from Colin’s lungs.

“Jesus, sweetie!” Colin gasped out. His hands slid up Joshua’s back and gripped his shoulders, his tongue sliding against Joshua's with desperate need.

Their bodies pressed together, the heat between them rising like wildfire.

Colin could feel Joshua's heartbeat quicken against his chest, matching the unsteady rhythm of his own.

As they kissed, everything around them faded away, leaving only the two of them in their private world, where their only desire was to be close to each other, lost in the intensity of their connection.

When they finally pulled apart, Colin looked into Joshua's eyes and saw his own longing and infinite love reflected back at him.

“You’re pretty damned hot today,” Colin murmured, carding his fingers through the dark curls he loved.

“And that wasn’t your intention when you donned that demure little outfit this morning? Getting me hot and keeping me that way?”

“What? This old thing?” Colin teased, indicating his skintight tank top and skimpy cutoffs.

“Yeah,” Joshua laughed. “That old thing!”

Colin caressed Joshua’s face with gentle fingers, his heart expanding with love.

They had been through so much together—weathered so many storms—yet none of those storms diminished the moments of happiness they found when wrapped in each other's arms, simple moments like this one, each a cherished treasure.

Joshua brushed a loose curl from Colin's forehead. “My yedid, I have a question,” he murmured, settling himself against Colin’s chest.

“Ask.”

“Is there something on your mind? Something you’re not telling me?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

“Because, my beautiful husband, I know you. Twice I’ve caught you looking at me with an expression that was not a happy one. In fact, it was downright worrisome, as if you were bracing yourself or building up the courage to tell me something. Something you knew I wouldn’t like.”

Colin took a deep breath and tightened his grip around Joshua’s body as if holding him close could somehow protect him from what Colin was about to reveal. “I didn’t want to worry you,” he began. “Especially when it may end up being nothing.”

“Colin, what is it? Nothing could be as bad as what I’m imagining.”

Colin’s head fell back. His hands moved up and down Joshua’s back as he stared up at the sky. “Do you remember Lexi Moreno?” he asked finally, his voice low, the words slow, as if pulled from the deepest part of him.

“I do,” Joshua replied. “The Moreno family are all part of a crime syndicate based in Charlottesville, aren’t they? Didn’t you send him to prison for racketeering?”

“Yeah. We tried to get big-brother Elias, of course. He’s the kingpin of the entire outfit.

But we could only get evidence on Lexi. However, since RICO allows for a broader scope of prosecution, his conviction implicated other high-ranking members of their family and disrupted quite a few of their operations.

Most were sex trafficking of minors, which was our main focus.

” He met Joshua’s eyes. “Consequently, Lexi and the rest of the Moreno clan, are not happy with our office and really not happy with…” He arched his brows and left the sentence unfinished, giving Joshua a knowing look.

“With you,” Joshua finished for him.

Colin took a deep breath. “Yeah, with me. Our prosecution put Lexi in prison and poked a lot of holes in the family business.”

Joshua’s palms flattened against Colin’s shoulders as he lifted himself, staring into Colin’s eyes. Watching him, Colin saw his face go pale.

“Colin? What are you saying?” He slid off Colin’s body and sat cross-legged on the grass. “Colin?”

Colin pulled himself upright and turned to face his husband.

“Yesterday, officials at Buckingham Correctional informed Esther that…” He paused and reached to take both of Joshua’s hands.

“Lexi’s been putting out feelers, trying to hire someone to um”—he wrinkled his nose almost comically and gave a half-shrug—“to take me out.”

With a gasp, Joshua jerked away, and Colin felt his hands twitch as they tightened on his own. His eyes locked on Colin’s as he tried to speak. “He put out a contract on your life?”

“No. He’s fishing around to hire someone to—”

“Colin!” Joshua burst out.

“Baby, it’s going to—”

Joshua sucked in a trembling breath and lifted a hand. “Stop!”

Colin’s head bowed, and he fell silent.

“Please, don’t tell me everything’s going to be all right,” Joshua said, his voice a rasp in his throat. “Not now. Not yet.”

Colin lifted his head, and their eyes met.

Joshua’s hands clutched both of Colin’s, his grip almost painfully tight. “What is Esther going to do? What are you going to do?”

“OK,” Colin said. He pulled a hand free and reached to caress Joshua’s hair.

“First off, take a breath. I’m only telling you this because it may involve some minor changes in my work hours, and…

” He hesitated, then sighed. “And possibly to other areas in our lives. I want you to be prepared for that to happen.”

Joshua nodded but gave no response.

“Second, Lexi Moreno is being transferred to Red Onion and placed in solitary. They’re moving him tomorrow.”

“The… the supermax.” Joshua stammered, referring to Virginia’s most well-known and strictly run prison.

“He’ll be in his cell twenty-three hours a day and allowed contact with no one.”

“But what if he already—”

“Yes, it is possible that he has already lined someone up to…” Colin’s voice trailed off, and his eyes dropped.

“To kill you!”

“Josh, we have to take this thing one step at a time. So far, the only thing we know for sure is that Lexi Moreno shot off his big, fat, lying mouth. That’s not exactly proof positive that anything is actually going to happen, so please, don’t be afraid.”

Joshua stared at him, his expression blank.

“Even if he did try to line up a—”

“Hit man?” Joshua offered.

Colin coughed out a frustrated sigh. “OK, yeah. A hitman. But, Josh, there’s no indication yet that anyone has—or would—actually take the job.”

“Why not? The Morenos have a fuck ton of money.”

“It’s not about money. Going after a prosecutor has deadly consequences! Even a hardened criminal would think twice before taking on a job like that.”

“Why?”

Colin lifted Joshua’s hands to his lips.

“You go after any public official, and the law throws the book at you! Judges, cops, prosecutors—we’re all protected.

There are enhanced penalties for crimes against any public official, specifically designed to deal with threats like Lexi’s and protect guys like me. ”

Joshua lowered his head, the fear plain on his face, but his hands stayed steady in Colin’s grasp.

“Baby, you need to trust in me,” Colin whispered. “I know this is upsetting. But we have the entire law enforcement system working for us. Protecting us. All Lexi Moreno did was casually mention his bullshit threat, and he’s already on his way to the supermax.”

Joshua nodded. Fear flickered in his eyes, but his voice was steady. “What does Esther think? What does she want to do?”

Colin breathed out a long sigh. “It hasn’t been finalized yet, but…” He glanced up at Joshua and winced. “She’s talking about moving us to a downtown hotel… temporarily.”

Joshua reared back. “Why?”

“Because it’s a more confined space, easier to set up security.”

“Security—as in…”

“As in law enforcement officers specially trained in protection procedures. Josh, I can talk her out of it. As long as nothing else happens and Moreno stays where he is, we won’t have to move.”

Joshua stared at him and nodded, then swallowed hard.

Colin’s hands tightened on his. “I know it’s pointless to say ‘don’t worry’, but babe, Moreno’s threat will probably come to nothing.

” He drew Joshua closer. “Listen to me. Prosecutors get threatened all the time, and it’s incredibly rare that anything ever comes of it.

In the past century, there have only been eight prosecutors killed in the line of duty.

” He touched Joshua’s cheek and kissed him. “Those are pretty decent odds.”

“Please don’t expect me to find that comforting,” Joshua replied with a wan smile. “You have always defied the odds.”

There was a sudden movement next to him, and Colin winced, startled.

“What’s up?” Nate chirped from the grass beside him.

“Jesus, Nate! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Puzzled, Nate peered at him. “Colin? What’s wrong?”

Colin eased Joshua back and turned to face their friend. “Where’s David?”

“He’s coming. Why? What is wrong with you?”

“I need to talk to both of you.”